Stock Market & Financial Investment News

Liberty sites when-issued trading for spin-off of Liberty TripAdvisor HoldingsLiberty Interactive (LINTA, LVNTA) announced that, in connection with its upcoming spin-off of its subsidiary Liberty TripAdvisor Holdings, it has been advised by Nasdaq that shares of TripAdvisor Holdings Series A and Series B common stock will trade on a when-issued basis on the Nasdaq Global Select Market under the symbols “LTPAV” and “LTPBV”, respectively, on August 27. The Spin-off will be effected through the distribution, by means of a dividend, of TripAdvisor Holdings common stock at 5:00 p.m., New York City time, on August 27 to holders of Liberty Ventures common stock. The record date for the dividend was 5:00 p.m., New York City time, on August 21. Liberty expects that the TripAdvisor Holdings Series A and Series B common stock will begin trading in the regular way on the Nasdaq Global Select Market under the symbols “LTRPA” and “LTRPB” beginning on August 28. The completion of the Spin-off remains subject to the satisfaction or waiver, as applicable, of a number of conditions.

Expedia hits 52-week high after Q2 profit tops estimatesShares of online travel company Expedia (EXPE) are rising after the company’s second quarter adjusted profit topped analysts’ consensus estimates and it reported strong gross bookings. WHAT'S NEW: After the close on Thursday, Expedia reported Q2 adjusted earnings per share of 89c, topping analysts' consensus estimates of 84c, on revenue of $1.66B, in line with the consensus projection. The company reported adjusted EPS, excluding eLong (LONG), of $1.02. WHAT'S NOTABLE: Expedia reported Q2 room night growth, excluding eLong, grew to 35% year-over-year, with domestic and international room nights growing 24% and 50%, respectively. It reported gross bookings and revenue, excluding eLong, increased 20% and 15%, respectively. Excluding the impact of foreign exchange, gross bookings increased 28%. In Q2, Expedia added nearly 27,000 properties to its global supply portfolio, which now stands at approximately 257,000. ANALYST REACTION: RBC Capital said this morning that Expedia's results were "surprisingly strong," given intra-quarter comments by the company. The firm raised its price target on the name to $140 from $130 and kept an Outperform rating on the shares. PRICE ACTION: In early afternoon trading, Expedia rose $11, or about 10%, to $118.65 on more than twice its average daily trading volume. Earlier in the session, the stock made a fresh 52-week high of $119. Including today’s advance, the shares have gained approximately 50% over the past year. OTHERS TO WATCH: Other online travel companies include Priceline Group (PCLN), which is up 2.3%, Travelzoo (TZOO), which is up 0.6%, Ctrip.com (CTRP), which is up 1.8% and Orbitz Worldwide (OWW) and Tripadvisor (TRIP), whose shares are flat.

On The Fly: Pre-market Movers UP AFTER EARNINGS: Amazon (AMZN), up 20.7%... Pandora (P), up 10.3%... Juniper (JNPR), up 9.1%... Visa (V), up 6.7%... Starbucks (SBUX), up 5%... Skyworks (SWKS), up 2.6%... American Airlines (AAL), up 2.1%. ALSO HIGHER: SolarCity (SCTY), up 2.5% after being upgraded to Outperform from Neutral at Baird. DOWN AFTER EARNINGS: Tripadvisor (TRIP), down 8.5%... Biogen (BIIB), down 14.1%.

TripAdvisor Instant Book continues to gain traction, says Piper JaffrayPiper Jaffray analyst Michael Olson says that while weakness in international cost-per-clicks drove weaker than expected Q2 results and lowered 2015 guidance, TripAdvisor's (TRIP) Instant Book continues to gain traction. The company confirmed that Hyatt (H) is now on the platform, Olson tells investors. He lowered his price target for shares to $95 from $100 and maintains an Overweight rating on the stock.

TripAdvisor sees FY15 total revenue growth in 'low-to-mid 20s'TripAdvisor said on its Q2 earnings conference call, "As it relates to guidance, based upon our view into international CPC pricing today, we are tempering our near-term outlook. We now expect 2015 total revenue growth to be in the low to mid-20s, and EBITDA growth in the low to mid-single digits. Our guidance reflects recent business trends and foreign exchange rates as of today, and does not assume future positive or negative FX movements. As such, future changes in FX and related effects on users and partners could positively or negatively impact our outlook."

TripAdvisor shares should be bought on any weakness, says OppenheimerOppenheimer is upbeat on the 2H15 outlook for online travel, due partly to what it says are higher inventories, improving site traffic, and a solid industry backdrop. The firm says that TripAdvisor's site traffic is accelerating, while its mobile conversions appear to be improving. Consequently, the firm is more confident that the company's hotel inventory is selling well. Oppenheimer introduced a $105 price target on TripAdvisor and reiterated an Outperform rating on the name.